EPA Negotiations: Where do we stand? - West Africa - last update : 15 December 2008

State of play

In the West African region, two separate interim agreements were initialed by Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. The latter was signed on 26 November 2008 ; signature of the agreement with Ghana is expected to follow in the coming weeks.

Negotiations towards a full regional EPA, which would supersede the interim agreements, have been going on in 2008 and aim at concluding by June 2009. In this context, the elaboration of a regional list of sensitive products and the adoption of an ECOWAS Common External Tariff have proven to be challenging but are progressing. Reportedly, the provisions on trade in goods are close to completion but some differences remain. Further issues to be addressed include rules of origin, trade in services and trade related issues. The region is further in the process of elaborating an EPA development programme.

-> For details on the current negotiations, please consult our monthly EPA negotiations update.

Trade regime from 1 January 2008

Interim agreements were concluded between the EC and Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana , two of the four non-LDCs in the region.

The remaining non-LDCs, Nigeria and Cape Verde, did not inital an interim agreement.
Nigeria has been exporting to the EU under the standard GSP regime since 1 January 2008. A request to be included into the GSP+ scheme was rejected by the EC on 9 December 2008 because Nigeria has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which is part of the requirements to benefit from GSP+ preferences .
Cape Verde is classified as a non-LDC from 1 January 2008 , but it will be able to export to the EU under the EBA regime for a transition period of at least three years.

The LDCs Benin, Burkina Faso , Gambia , Guinea , Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali , Mauritania , Niger , Senegal , Sierra Leone and Togo export under the EBA initiative since 1 January 2008 .

Interim agreement with Cote d'Ivoire

Text of the agreement:
Accord de Partenariat Économique d'étape entre la Côte d'Ivoire, d'une part, et la Communauté européenne et ses Etats membres, d'autre part , publié par le Conseil de l'Union européenne, annexe à la décision du Conseil relative à la signature et à l'application provisoire de l'accord, 10 novembre 2008
-> Droits de douanes sur les produits originaires de la partie CE
( partie 1 ) ( partie 2 ) ( partie 3 ) ( partie 4 ) ( partie 5 )
English version:
Stepping Stone Economic Partnership Agreement between Côte d'Ivoire on the one part and the European Community and its Member States on the other part , published by the Council of the European Union, annex to the Council Decision on the signature and provisional application of the agreement, 10 November 2008 (document includes the Council decision followed by the text of the agreement)
- Liberalisation schedule of Côte d'Ivoire :
( part 1 ) ( part 2 ) ( part 3 ) ( part 4 ) ( part 5 )

Summary of the agreement:
"Market Access Schedule
The coverage of liberalisation of Ivory Coast offer is 80.8% of the EC imports in value and 88.7% in tariff lines over 15 years, and over 10 years is 69.8% of the EC imports in value and 83.9% in tariff lines. All sectors are covered.

Coverage
The Agreement covers all major provisions of a trade in goods agreements such as provisions on custom duties, export taxes, a standstill clause, a non discrimination clause, trade defence instruments (anti-dumping and countervailing measures, multilateral and bilateral safeguards), special provisions on administrative cooperation in custom matters, a chapter on custom and trade facilitation, a chapter on technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures as well as exception clauses.
The respective offers of the parties are set out in annexes attached to the agreement. The agreement also contains an annex on mutual administrative assistance in custom matters.
The Agreement provides that each party will apply its rules of origin in force on 01/01/08 and, in parallel, will negotiate rules of origin to be annexed to the Agreement by 01/07/2008 at the latest.

Other components
This Agreement focuses on safeguarding the market access of Ivory Coast to the EC on 01/01/2008 and avoids trade disruption which could have an important negative economic impact for this country. It hence focuses on trade in goods aspects.
The Agreement is accompanied by a political declaration and contains a preamble reaffirming the objective of concluding a global EPA with all West African countries and regional organisations. Commitment to regional integration is also reasserted. A specific Title in the Agreement identifies broad areas on which negotiations will continue in perspective of concluding a global EPA with the whole region (services, investment, competition, intellectual property, public procurement, sustainable development, protection of personal data).
The Agreement contains a Title on Development Cooperation covering priority areas of development cooperation for accompanying the implementation of this Agreement. The main areas identified are the reinforcement and upgrading of productive sectors, the cooperation in respect to fiscal adjustment, to foster the improvement of business climate, and the implementation of trade rules contained in the Agreement. The parties agree to cooperate in these areas notably in the context of the Cotonou Agreement.
Finally, the agreement contains a detailed dispute settlement mechanism, as well as general, final and institutional provisions." (Summary provided by the European Commission)

Interim agreement with Ghana

Summary of the agreement:
" Ivory Coast invited Ghana as an observer to its negotiations on the stepping stone EPA. Negotiations with Ghana have thus been conducted on the basis of the text and market access offer agreed with Ivory Coast . There are only few differences between the two texts of the Agreement. The market access offers of Ivory Coast and Ghana , however, contain some differences (e.g. cars liberalized by Ghana and not Ivory Coast ; aluminium liberalized by Ivory Coast and not Ghana ).

Market Access Schedule
The coverage of liberalisation of Ghana offer is 80.48% of the EC imports in value and 80.01% in tariff lines over 15 years, and over 10 years is 62.24% of the EC imports in value and 72.81 in tariff lines. All sectors are covered.

Agreement (goods)
The Agreement covers all major provisions of a trade in goods agreements such as provisions on custom duties, export taxes, a standstill clause, a non discrimination clause, trade defence instruments (anti-dumping and countervailing measures, multilateral and bilateral safeguards), special provisions on administrative cooperation in custom matters, a chapter on custom and trade facilitation, a chapter on technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures as well as exception clauses.
The respective offers of the parties are set out in annexes attached to the agreement. The agreement also contains an annex on mutual administrative assistance in custom matters.
The Agreement provides that each party will apply its rules of origin in force on 01/01/08 and, in parallel, will negotiate rules of origin to be annexed to the Agreement by 31/03/2008 at the latest.

Agreement (other components)
This Agreement focuses on safeguarding the market access of Ghana to the EC on 01/01/2008 and avoids trade disruption which could have an important negative economic impact for this country. It hence focuses on trade in goods aspects.
The Agreement is accompanied by a political declaration and contains a preamble reaffirming the objective of concluding a global EPA with all West African countries and regional organisations. Commitment to regional integration is also reasserted. A specific Title in the Agreement identifies broad areas on which negotiations will continue in perspective of concluding a global EPA with the whole region (services, investment, competition, intellectual property).
The Agreement contains a Title on Development Cooperation covering priority areas of development cooperation for accompanying the implementation of this Agreement. The main areas identified are the reinforcement and upgrading of productive sectors, the cooperation in respect to fiscal adjustment, to foster the improvement of business climate, and the implementation of trade rules contained in the Agreement. The parties agree to cooperate in these areas notably in the context of the Cotonou Agreement.
Finally, the agreement contains a detailed dispute settlement mechanism, as well as general, final and institutional provisions." (Summary provided by the European Commission)

Relevant documents and websites